Bethel Police Warn Residents to Beware of Property Scam

The Bethel Police Department wants residents of the town to beware of the latest scam to hit the area.

Bethel Police took to social media to get the word out about a person or persons who are posing as property owners and requesting money for either security deposits, or other rental type expenses. The red flag here is that this person (or persons) is requesting that the payments are to be made electronically to a Bitcoin account, or other accounts that would keep the scammers identity anonymous.

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According to the Bethel Police Departments Facebook page, the department has recently received numerous complaints about rental property scams.

They also warn that while a property may be legitimately available for rent, the scammers get clever and copy the listings to other websites such as Facebook Marketplace and replace the contact information with their own. Now Bethel Police are asking residents who may receive these calls or notices not to send any payments relating to rental properties to anyone that's not your landlord, or to someone who will not identify themselves.

This may seem very plain and simple and a no brainer, but many times these scammers prey on the older or elderly population, and in some cases are successful in getting the person to believe them and send them the money.

Here are some ways to quickly identify someone who's trying to scam funds from you.

• The phone number is odd looking, or one that you don't recognize.
• They delay their initial greeting and personal introduction and get right to the reason they want money.
• The caller has trouble communicating, or you can't fully understand what they are talking about.
• The caller claims there is a problem with the current account.
• The caller may become angered or may start to raise his or her voice during the call when you question the motive of the call.
• When you have to identify yourself to the caller.
• The caller uses a generic greeting.

If you suspect you have been the victim of a scam, or are getting these type of property calls, contact the Bethel Police Department immediately and file a report.